Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Bars

Creamy, dreamy lemon cheesecake infused with fresh blueberries on top of a brown sugar oatmeal cookie crust.A sale on cream cheese at my local grocery store last week can only mean one thing. A TON of cheesecake-y recipes coming your way.

I’ve had the urge to remake my Oatmeal Lemon Creme Bars for quite some time now. The light, creamy lemon filling paired with a buttery oatmeal cookie crust is just too good to pass up. They easily trump any chocolate/peanut butter dessert I’ve ever made. And if you know me at all, that says A LOT!

But today’s bars are a little different than those gems. Rather than using sweetened condensed milk as the base for the filling, I made up a quick cheesecake filling using the plethora of cream cheese hoarding my fridge.

The cheesecake filling is actually quite simple. I creamed together sugar, reduced fat cream cheese, eggs, and the zest + juice of two lemons. I studded the cheesecake filling with fresh blueberries to give each bite a sweet burst of flavor. I suggest sticking to fresh berries in this recipe. Frozen berries will not stay intact and may leak into the cheesecake layer.

I made sure to make EXTRA of the cheesecake layer. It is quite thick because I prefer a looooot of cheesecake with my crust, thankyouverymuch. 😉

The thick cheesecake filling sits on an oatmeal cookie crust. A perfectly buttery oatmeal cookie crust made from a pouch of Betty Crocker premade oatmeal cookie mix. I was short on time, so Betty came to the rescue. If you can’t find this oatmeal cookie mix anywhere in stores or prefer to make your own, you may certainly whip up the oatmeal cookie crust from scratch. I’ve included that recipe below.

And those streusel crumbs on top? That’s actually pieces of the oatmeal cookie crust layer. What I loved most about these bars… other than the taste… is that I didn’t have to make a separate crust and a separate streusel topping. It’s all the same oatmeal cookie dough– pressed at the bottom of the pan and sprinkled on top. An oatmeal cookie sandwich, if you will. 😉

You’ll find it hard to resist picking off the little oatmeal cookie crumbs on top. I know I did…

So go ahead, make something a little different to wow your friends and family. I know these would be the first thing I pick out on a dessert table. 🙂

Directions:

In a large bowl, cut butter into cookie mix using a fork or electric mixer. Stir in 1 egg until mixture is crumbly.

Press half of oatmeal cookie dough into bottom of prepared baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Reserve the other half of the dough for topping.

While cookie crust is baking, prepare cheesecake filling. With an electric handheld or stand mixer, beat the cream cheese, 1 egg, sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest together until creamy. Make sure there are no cream cheese chunks hiding, you want the mixture nice and smooth. Remove cookie crust from oven and reduce heat to 325F. Pour the lemon cheesecake filling over the hot cookie crust. Sprinkle the blueberries overtop and gently press them down. Crumble the reserved oatmeal cookie dough over the blueberries.

Bake for 35 minutes until the top is lightly browned. The cheesecake filling will slightly jiggle in the center. Allow bars to cool completely and chill for at least 3 hours before cutting. I chilled mine in the refrigerator overnight. I highly suggest chilling them for up to 12 hours, which allows the bars to be cut easily.

Homemade Oatmeal Cookie Base

1 and 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold

1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

In a large bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or using a handheld mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar until combined. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking powder, and oats. Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix to combine. Continue with step three in the recipe above.

76 comments

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hmmmm….looks so delicious….
wanna try…

These blueberry lemon cheesecake bars look so good! I was wondering, do you think you could switch the blueberries out with raspberries or strawberries too? I’m not a big fan of blueberries, so I would love it if you showed me how to make some strawberry lemon bars. Also, I’m just starting out with my blog, so do you think you could give me some tips? Thanks in advance!

I made this recipe in mini cupcake pans. I got 40 mini cupcakes.
I baked the bottoms for 7 min and the assembled cupcakes for 20 min.
When I do it again I will make half as much oatmeal crust.

Thanks for the great recipe!

Dear Sally, I am making your recipe for Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Bars for a trip home to see some old high school friends I haven’t seen in 30+ years. Although I will only be driving 1 & 1/2 hrs, I am hoping these beautiful Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Bars make the trip home with me! I could show up with blueberries all over me and an empty pan! Will let you know! Wish me luck – Lol. Sincerely, Victoria French

Hi Sally!

My company is having a bake-off competition and it’s serious stuff. 😉 People are talking a lot of smack! I was thinking of making either your Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars or the ones on this page (Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Bars). Which would you prefer??

I’ve made your Lemon Blueberry Layer Cake a few times before and it was insanely good. (I think a cake might be hard to transport to my long commute to work, which is why I want to try the bars).

HI Sally, Can I use canned blueberry preserves instead since fresh blueberries are not available in my country? Thank you.

That would be fine but they will turn the cheesecake layer a blue/purple hue.

Hey Sally! I made my bars and cut put them in the fridge for 12 hours, but when I cut them up today they still seem a little runny and soft. It didn’t quite hold. I don’t think it’ll hold its shape if I take it out. What should the texture of the cheesecake portion be like, and do you recommend I bake it a little longer to firm it up?

Hi Liz! It sounds like the center was not set and could still be a little raw. You could try baking it a little longer, yes. Maybe 10 minutes or so?

Hi Sally,
Thank you for sharing your fabulous recipes.
I found your alternative oatmeal recipe for both the lemon bars and the cheesecake bars omitting the one egg listed in the inital ingredient list. I got that you need tat egg from the original list, but in the lemon bars you instruct to go straight to step 3. Someone who doesn’t bake often might not know that that egg needs to be in the made from scratch oatmeal. Thanks… keep posting!!!

I know this was from a while ago, but I didn’t want someone to read that comment and get confused. The directions for the homemade base don’t mention adding an egg to the dough, Also, this one of Sally’s comments from the oatmeal lemon bars: : “No you do NOT have to add the additional butter or egg when making the from-scratch version. Just follow the from-scratch recipe at the bottom of the post”

These bars are so so so good. I made them for Delfest and everyone devoured them. So so good. I vacuum sealed two separate batches and froze them and they held up really well in the cooler throughout the weekend. I never thought to put oatmeal cookie crust with cheesecake but at this point I don’t thin I’ll ever use graham cracker crust again! I’m making another batch of these for another music fest this weekend- I know for sure they’ll be a hit.

I have made these for several years now and they are ALWAYS a hit. I love your recipes so bad. Also…after having the oatmeal crust with this I started using oatmeal crusts for pies as well and will never go back to graham cracker crusts….so much tastier and more fiber too. =)

I usually so a double batch for music festivals we go to…I put half the batch in a large Tupperware to be eaten right away and vacuum seal the other half to be eaten later in the weekend. LOVE.